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Chapter 33
Perk—.
I leaned in, listening more closely to their conversation.
“Yeah. They say that horse is going to win this time. The odds are a whopping 1.5 to 1.”
The Second Prince replied in a boastful tone.
“If I turn 1,000 gold into 1,500, Mother will surely praise me as well.”
A narcissist and a mama’s boy?
“But nothing in this world is ever certain. If things go wrong, you could lose the entire 1,000 gold…”
At the attendant’s sensible words, the prince flinched for a moment.
He, too, was afraid of the Empress’s wrath.
Not missing that reaction, the attendant quickly added,
“Then how about investing only half?”
“Hmm…”
“Even 500 gold is a huge sum! If you roll just that at 1.5 times, it becomes 750 gold in total!”
At that, the prince looked conflicted.
I can’t let him make such a sensible choice.
I quickly disguised my voice and shouted,
“Oh my, did you hear the news? Some maid at Betting Booth No. 2 put down as much as 34 gold!”
This time, I lowered my voice as much as I could and shouted like a man,
“They say she bet her entire fortune! She’s got more guts than most nobles!”
The prince was someone with an extreme sense of elitism.
There was no way he could endure hearing something like that.
The Second Prince, who had been hesitating, lifted his chin with an arrogant expression.
“…No. As a noble member of the imperial family, I can’t afford to be timid.”
“Y-Your Highness?”
“Above all, there’s no way I would lose.”
He declared it with a face full of absolute certainty.
“Even the gods love me!”
Watching him, I snickered inwardly.
Of course, at worst it’ll just be a small scratch on the Empress’s purse after she’s been siphoning off the national treasury anyway.
Still, instead of losing 500 gold, he’d now lose 1,000.
And that money the Second Prince invested would come straight back to me, the first-place winner.
My mood lifted, and with lighter steps, I headed toward the arena.
The inside of the arena was overflowing with heat and excitement.
It was such a popular event that there wasn’t a single empty seat in the stands.
Before long, the announcer’s voice boomed from the magic loudspeakers.
“The race will begin shortly! All contestants, please enter the arena!”
The owners of the chimeras began to appear one by one, starting from Number 1.
Each chimera looked completely different from the others.
When Number 7’s chimera—especially large-looking—appeared along with its owner, cheers erupted from the stands.
“Waaaaaah!”
Naturally so, since most of the crowd had probably bet on Number 7.
Contestant Number 7 casually waved at the crowd.
He was tall and handsome, a real heartthrob.
The contestants continued to enter.
Number 8, Number 9…
But then—
“Number 10? Contestant Number 10, please enter the arena!”
Number 10 did not come out.
No matter how long they waited, the entrance to the arena remained silent.
Boos erupted from the stands.
“Boooo!”
“Just start already!”
“He was just filler anyway!”
“Th-Then, first, Number 11! Contestant Number 11, please enter!”
By the time all the way up to Number 20 had entered the arena, Number 10 still hadn’t appeared.
I tried to hide my anxiety, my foot trembling uncontrollably.
The novel hadn’t gone into much detail about the actual race.
It was only briefly mentioned while explaining one of the male leads—the Archmage.
I-It’ll be fine, right…? Things will still follow the original story.
I pressed down on my shaking leg with my hand.
But contrary to my hopes, a firm voice rang out from the loudspeakers.
“Number 10! Contestant Number 10! If you do not enter within five minutes, you will be automatically disqualified!”
My heart dropped.
Thirty-four gold was my entire fortune.
I’d even spent the little silver I had left on hot dogs—I didn’t even have fare to get home.
Five minutes…
If Number 10 didn’t show up within that time, my entire fortune would vanish before the race even began.
“Damn it… No, he’ll come. He has to.”
“Number 10! Contestant Nuuumber Teeeenn!”
That was when—
“Want me to tell you where he is?”
A languid, gentle voice spoke up.
I whipped my head around to see a man wearing a black cat mask sitting next to me, long legs crossed.
I had no idea when he’d gotten there—I hadn’t noticed him at all.
“…Pardon?”
Normally, I might have thought it was a very pleasant voice to listen to, but I had no such luxury right now.
“Just now, what did you say—”
“Contestant Number 10. I asked if you want to know where he is. You bet your entire fortune, didn’t you?”
Had he seen me at Betting Booth No. 2?
There’d been quite a commotion since I’d placed a sizable bet, so it wouldn’t be strange if someone remembered me.
“It’s, it’s fine. He’ll definitely show up…”
I answered as bravely as I could, but my voice trembled at the end at the thought of losing everything and becoming a beggar.
“You’re awfully confident. …Almost like you know he’s going to win.”
The man in the cat mask said with interest.
Only then did I look at him properly.
Beautiful green eyes visible through the gaps in the mask.
But the look in his eyes as he watched me was strange.
It wasn’t friendliness… but it wasn’t suspicion either.
What kind of look is that?
Before I could think it through, he spoke again.
“That guy’s probably going to forfeit. He’s throwing up near Exit 3 right now.”
“Whaaat?!”
What was going on?
According to the original story, Giovanni was supposed to win this race, and the Archmage was supposed to take him on as an assistant.
Was the plot going off the rails?
Why?
Isn’t it usually the transmigrated person who messes things up?
What did I even do?
I hadn’t even met the Empress or a single male lead yet!
“Number 10! Is Contestant Number 10 not present? Then we will proceed with disqualifi—”
“Nooooo!”
There was no time to think.
I sprang to my feet and ran straight toward Exit 3.
Sure enough, there was a man clutching the wall, retching in misery.
Beside him, a crumpled ostrich-like chimera whimpered, its reins clenched in its own mouth.
“Ugh—bleeeargh.”
…Oh dear.
“Hey, are you okay?”
I rushed up to him and asked.
The man, his face deathly pale, lifted his head.
“Who… are you?”
“I’m just someone passing by. Want me to pat your back?”
I asked urgently.
“You have to finish throwing up and get into the arena! If you don’t enter within two minutes, you’ll be disqualified!”
If worst came to worst, he could always throw up inside the arena.
But before I could kindly suggest that option, the man shook his head.
“…It doesn’t matter. I’m not racing anyway.”
“What?! What are you talking about?!”
“Why would I compete in a race I’m going to lose anyway!”
He shouted roughly, then muttered in fear while looking at his chimera.
“No one expects anything from me. The odds are 2,000 to 1… I’m just not going.”
I understood immediately.
Ah. He’s that type.
A perfectionist.
The kind who would rather give up than risk losing or ending up with a result that doesn’t satisfy him.
There were a lot of people like that among the smart ones.
Cowards, afraid of witnessing their own failure.
“…Don’t.”
“What?”
But I didn’t have the luxury of soothing a clever coward right now.
I grabbed his wrist tightly.
“Don’t give up and sulk without even trying!”
“W-What are you—”
I dragged him toward the arena.
“Hey—! What are you doing?! I’m not going! I said I’m not going!”
I had no idea where this brute strength was coming from in my slender arms.
Maybe anyone becomes strong when their entire fortune is on the line.
“I don’t want to! I’ll just embarrass myself…!”
“Then be embarrassed!”
“What…?”
I shouted at the man, who had frozen mid-struggle at my reply.
“Try first, and then decide whether you’re ashamed or not!”
Without hesitating further, I kicked him square in the backside.
He stumbled forward and collapsed into the arena.
“Aah! Here he comes! Contestant Number 10 has entered!”
The man whipped his head around and glared at me resentfully, but I pretended not to notice and looked away.
“Now, please stand between Numbers 9 and 11. We will begin the Chimera Race after the fair-play oath!”
“Waaaaaah—!”
The arena heated up, roaring with excitement.
At last, the race of twenty chimeras began.
